It is known in the art that tetrahydrofuran may be made by a number of different methods; the more prominent methods are by the catalytic hydrogenation of furan or by the dehydration of 1,4-butanediol.
In practice, the tetrahydrofuran is most often produced by a series of reactions starting with the reaction of formaldehyde and acetylene in the presence of a cuprous acetylide complex to form butynediol. Butynediol is converted on hydrogenation to butanediol. The 1,4-butanediol is converted to tetrahydrofuran as indicated above.
Additionally, tetrahydrofuran is prepared from maleic acid, its esters, maleic anhydride, fumaric acid, its esters, succinic acid, its esters, succinic anhydride, .gamma.-butyrolactone, or mixtures of these compounds, by hydrogenation over a hydrogenation catalyst.
However, these methods involve considerably expensive equipment and the handling of hazardous materials. Also, catalysts in some cases may be expensive, and in other instances may be easily poisoned.
Tetrahydrofuran is a useful solvent for natural and synthetic resins, particularly vinyls. Also, it is used as an intermediate in the manufacture of nylon, 1,4-dichlorobutane and polyurethanes.